Upcoming Event: Swimming & Diving versus Boston College on September 26, 2025 at 4 p.m. Diving / 5 p.m. Swimming

Honors:
Career: One of the best divers in Duke history, Hernandez was a five-time CSCAA All-America pick and five-time ACC Men’s Diver of the Week … Graduated holding the second-highest scores in all three diving events – one-meter (396.23), three-meter (420.23) and platform (380.45) … Became just the third Duke men’s diver to earn First Team All-America honors with an eighth-place finish in the one-meter event at the 2019 NCAA Championships … Helped the Duke men reach their highest team ranking in program history, earning the 15th spot in the November 13th CSCAA Division I poll … Earned All-America honors in all three events in 2020 after the cancellation of the NCAA Championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic … Became the second Blue Devil in program history to be named CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, selected on the Men’s At Large Second Team … Three-time CSCAA Scholar All-American First Team … Four-time All-ACC Academic and ACC Academic Honor Roll selection … Awarded the Heidrick Family Leadership Postgraduate Scholarship and Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship Award from Duke and the ACC, respectively.
2019-20: Qualified to compete in all three diving events prior to the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic … Earned CSCAA All-America honors in the one-meter, three-meter and platform events by qualifying for the NCAA Championships … Broke the 400-point threshold in the three-meter event on three occasions throughout the season … Lone ACC Diver to earn three ACC Men’s Diver of the Week honors throughout the season … Put together a strong showing at the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships, placing in the top-eight of the finals in all three events … Placed sixth in the one-meter (643.15) and platform (703.05) … Also competed in every event at the ACC Championships, highlighted by a fourth-place standing in the three-meter event (382.65) … Swept both events on Senior Day against North Carolina (2/1), taking the top spot in the one-meter (385.05) and three-meter with a career-best score of 420.23 and earning ACC Men’s Swimmer of the Week honors … His score on the three-meter improved his second-place score in Duke history and the highest score in the ACC during the 2019-20 season … Enjoyed one of his best weekends of diving at the NC State GAC Diving Invitational in November … Competed in all three diving events, winning the one-meter and platform while taking second in the three-meter … Earned ACC Men’s Diver of the Week honors the following week … Took first and second in the one- and three-meter competitions, respectively, in the tri-meet with Harvard and Texas A&M (11/9) … Swept the side in both events in the quad meet at Boston College (11/8) … Named ACC Men’s Diver of the Week after the successful weekend at Harvard and Boston College … Opened his senior campaign with a second-place finish in the one-meter event at Florida State (10/12) … Earned multiple post-season academic honors … CoSIDA Academic All-America Men’s At Large Second Team, All-District Men’s At Large First Team and CSCAA Scholar All-America First Team.
2018-19: Qualified for an NCAA Championship final for the first time in his career, capturing first team All-America accolades with an eighth-place finish on the one-meter board ... Joined former Blue Devil national champion Nick McCrory (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014) and John C. Connor (1949, 1950) as the program’s first team All-Americans in men’s diving ... Also competed in three-meter and platform preliminaries in Austin, Texas ... Earned his third straight NCAA appearance with a fourth-place showing on the three-meter board at Zones ... Also a Zones finalist in one-meter and platform diving ... Reached event championship finals in the one-meter and platform competitions at ACCs, placing sixth and seventh, respectively ... Tabbed the ACC Men's Diver for the second time on the season Dec. 3 after surpassing NCAA Zone Diving standards in all three events at the Tennessee Invitational … Finished second on the platform, third on the three-meter board and fifth in the one-meter competition at that meet … Award of 380.45 on the platform marked a career best ... Also named the ACC Men's Diver of the Week Nov. 12 following his performance at the inaugural ACC/Big Ten Challenge in West Lafayette, Ind. … Was fourth overall and second among ACC divers on the platform and placed 10th on the three-meter board ... At the team's annual awards banquet, received a Most Outstanding Performance award for his showing at the NCAA Championships.
2017-18: Claimed the first All-America honors of his career on the platform at the NCAA Championships ... Placed fourth in the event consolation final and 12th overall for honorable mention accolades ... Became the fourth diver in men’s program history to garner All-America status ... Helped the Blue Devil men tie for 33rd in the final team standings ... Also competed in the one-meter preliminaries at NCAAs, coming in 27th ... Secured his return to the national stage with a top-six finish in one-meter diving at the NCAA Zone B Championships ... Added platform to his list of eligible events at nationals with an eighth-place Zones showing on the platform ... Advanced to event championship finals in two events at ACCs, placing sixth on the three-meter board and the platform ... Took first on the three-meter springboard at No. 25 Virginia (11/3) ... At the program’s end-of-season awards banquet, received recognition for his performance at the NCAA Championships … Over the summer, participated in the Rubenstein-Bing Student-Athlete Civic Engagement Program, a collaborative service initiative between Duke and Stanford ... As a member of ACE, traveled to India to learn from local organizations and community groups in New Delhi concerning health outreach efforts.Â
2016-17:Â Won the one-meter competition in his collegiate debut at Virginia Tech's quad dual (10/21) ... Added a platform victory in a dual meet against No. 13 Virginia (1/20) ... Reached event finals in the one-meter and three-meter events at his first ACC Championship, finishing fifth and eighth, respectively ... Also scored for the Blue Devils with a 15th-place performance in the platform preliminaries ... Â Competed on all three disciplines at the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships, advancing to finals on the three-meter board and the platform ... Garnered a bid to the NCAA Championships with a ninth-place showing on the platform, claiming the last of the nine available qualifying spots on the final day of Zones with a resilient performance in finals ... Represented Duke in the platform competition at NCAAs, placing 36th in preliminaries ... Received an award for Most Outstanding Diving Performance at the program's annual team banquet. Â
Prior to Duke: Senior nationals qualifier … Claimed his first national title in senior competition in 2016, winning gold on the 1-meter at summer nationals ... Three-time junior nationals finalist on the platform … Captured silver medals on the 1 and 3-meter at junior nationals his sophomore year … NISCA/Speedo high school national champion as a junior … Three-time Texas state champion on the 1-meter … State bronze medalist on the 1-meter as a sophomore ... Competed with GC Diving club program ... Member of National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta (math honor society).Â
Personal:Â Born Nathaniel Paul Hernandez March 26, 1998 in San Antonio, Texas ... Son of Richard and Teresa Hernandez ... Has one brother (Zachary) and one sister (Hailey) ... Graduated from Duke in May 2020 with a Biology degree.
Hernandez Career Bests:
One-Meter: 396.23 ... 2nd all-time at Duke ... vs. UNCW (1/12/19)
Three-Meter: 420.23 ... 2nd all-time at Duke ... vs. UNC (2/1/20)
Platform: 380.45 ... 2nd all-time at Duke ... 2018 Tennessee Invitational
At the NCAA Championships:
2017: 36th, Platform ... 260.55
2018: 12th, Platform ... 361.00
      27th, One-Meter ... 309.15
2019: 8th, One-Meter ... 333.00
      39th, Three-Meter ... 289.85
      42nd, Platform ... 220.70
At the ACC Championships:
2017: 5th, One-Meter ... 315.05
      8th, Three-Meter ...292.45
      15th, Platform ... 266.15
2018: 6th, Three-Meter ... 344.90
      6th, Platform ... 310.60
      12th, One-Meter ... 294.60
2019: 6th, One-Meter ... 337.05
      7th, Platform ... 308.00
      9th, Three-Meter ... 325.90
2020: 4th, Three-Meter ... 382.65
          7th, One-Meter ... 297.70
          7th, Platform ... 302.90
Last updated on 9/4/2020